NBA Cheat Sheet: November 3rd

The Vegas Lines

Highest Scoring Games

Nuggets vs. Lakers – Tonight’s highest matchup is the last game on the 7 game slate. The o/u is at 208 and the winner is a coin toss on paper. This game should be close and produce a lot of good value. If the Manimal (Kenneth Faried) is good to go I will have a lot of exposure. Julius Randle could also be primed for a decent line.

Lowest Scoring Games

Bulls vs. Hornets – This game has the makings of a defensive battle. The Hornets have started 0-3 and the excitement that was the preseason has slowly dwindled. Butler and company will pressure the Hornets all night. It wouldn’t surprise me to see scoring go under the 193 predicted tonight.

Hawks vs. Heat – It seems to be a common theme, but unfortunately the Eastern Conference plays slow ball. The run and gun identity of the Warriors or Rockets doesn’t correlate to their eastern brethren. The o/u is 196 and the big men could see a lot of love in this one. Look for Millsap, Horford, Bosh, and Whiteside to be heavily involved.

Pace of Play

Fastest Projected Games

Nuggets vs. Lakers – This isn’t a surprise that the highest o/u of the night is also the fastest paced game. The Lakers are ranked 4th on Hollinger’s pace rankings and the Nuggets are middle of the pack. This will be a typical West Coast game that should be up and down the floor. With some of the Nuggets bigs injured look for Gallinari and Mudiay to pick up the slack.

Slowest Projected Games

Hawks vs. Heat – With a name like the Heat, you would expect blazing speed, unfortunately this year the Heat are 29th in pace. The Hawks aren’t much better and are also in the bottom tier. Like I said above this should pan out to be the battle of the big men.

Bulls vs. Hornets- Once again an Eastern matchup with a slow pace. Both teams are in the bottom 15 when it comes to pace of play. There is value to be had, but it will definitely be slow.

Defense vs. Position

Best PG Matchups

Elfrid Payton vs. Jrue Holiday – Payton is finally coming along and the Pelicans have been terrible against opposing PGs. He may be worth a flyer tonight.

Worst PG Matchups

Dallas PG vs. Kyle Lowry- It will be interesting to see who gets most of the minutes for Dallas tonight, but whoever does will get Kyle Lowry on fire. Kyle lost a couple of pounds and has been great during the early part of the season.

Best SG Matchups

Jordan Clarkson/Lou Williams vs. Gary Harris- Harris couldn’t guard my 4 year old son. If Clarkson gets the minutes he is a must, if Lou splits time they both have a great chance of hitting value.

Worst SG Matchups

Victor Oladipo vs. Eric Gordon – This feels so wrong, but the statistics don’t lie. EG has been surprisingly good against opposing SGs, but Oladipo has been a scoring machine. On paper I hate it, in real life I will need some Oladipo exposure.

Best SF Matchups

Marcus Morris vs. C.J. Miles – SVG loves Marcus Morris and Morris has repaid him by filling up the stat sheet. The Pacers are giving up 25+ to opposing SF’s and Morris will look to take advantage tonight.

Worst SF Matchups

Lakers’ SF vs. Danilo Gallinari – Whoever the Nuggets will have to defend at SF tonight will draw a tough matchup. Danilo and the Nuggets have only been giving up 24 DK points to opposing SF’s.

Best PF Matchups

Kenneth Faried vs. Julius Randle – Randle has been very impressive, but hasn’t played defense. If the Manimal is a go, I will definitely be plugging him into my line ups.

Worst PF Matchups

Dirk Nowitzki vs. Luis Scola – This matchup could turn out to be Dirk vs. Patty P, whoever gets the start will try to shut down the German King. The Raptors have shut down PF’s and will try to contain a slower Dirk tonight.

Best C Matchups

Andre Drummond vs. Ian Mahinmi – Drummond is a force to be reckoned with. Mahinmi has played good in his starting role, but he will have nothing for Drummond tonight.

Worst C Matchups

Al Horford vs. Hassan Whiteside – Whiteside has the makings of an elite NBA Center if he can find consistency. Horford will get his fair share of rebounds and points tonight, but I can’t see him posting a line worth his salary.

Lineup Quick Hits

Superstar Worth Paying For

Anthony Davis ($10,500) – The Brow is the Brow. He was touted as the number 1 fantasy play coming into this season due to his ability to fill up a stat sheet. The excellent thing about AD is he is basically matchup proof. If you want to pay up tonight then Anthony Davis is the pick for you.

Save Big Bucks By Drafting

Kosta Koufos ($3,700) – DeMarcus Cousins will likely be sidelined tonight and Koufos has a revenge game (if it’s possible for Koufos to have a revenge game). Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein are the big men by committee for the Kings tonight. Koufos finds his way into the article based on his price and his ability to rack up rebounds.

Dud of the Night

Marc Gasol ($7,800) – Gasol was an every game play for me last year, unfortunately he hasn’t hit value in his last 3 starts. He does have a decent matchup tonight with DeMarcus Cousins sidelined, but Memphis is getting a lot more people involved in the offense than they have in the past and its limiting Gasol’s usage. With names like Whiteside, Vucevic, and Drummond available tonight it is hard to want exposure to Gasol tonight.

Latest Headlines From

Shaun Livingston • PG • GS

Shaun Livingston announces retirement from NBA

Livingston made the announcement on Instagram, putting an end to his 15-year career. He was waived this summer by the Warriors in order to clear space to add D'Angelo Russell to the roster. Livingston wasn't drawing much interest but there have been reports that coach Steve Kerr hopes he remains with the organization, potentially as an assistant coach. Livingston was with eight different organizations after being drafted fourth overall in the 2004 draft by the Clippers, but most notably was with the Warriors for the past five seasons, where he won all three of his career championships.

Several teams were reportedly interested, but Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Johnson ultimately landed with the Pistons. He shined in the Big 3 League and ended up walking away with an MVP trophy playing in the 3-on-3 format. While he'll contribute some scoring from Detroit's backcourt, he likely will take on a bench role and would be a pure matchup play on a night-to-night basis. Last season with the Rockets, Johnson averaged 22 minutes per game with 6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.